The last time Brian Baker was in a Slam was 2005, seven years ago.  He was a wildcard, and managed an opening day upset, beating clay court specialist, Gaston Gaudio.  In the second round, he lost in four sets to Xavier Malisse.  Malisse is a Belgian player that was once a reasonably high-ranked junior.  While Baker had to leave the tour over a series of injuries that required multiple surgeries and long recovery, Malisse became a workman-like player.  Good enough to go a few rounds, but never a threat to win a Slam or big title.  Malisse has even played a fair bit of doubles.

It did not go unnoticed that Baker was going to play Malisse again.  Of course, Baker put little weight on the previous meeting as it was so long ago.  It’s not even clear Malisse remembered that match or who he beat.

If Baker wanted a match where he had a decent shot at winning, it would be a player like Malisse, a solid player that wasn’t going to overpower him.  Baker relies a bit on his serve, his ability to attack returns, and his backhand to keep up with the top players.  In the following round, he’ll face Gilles Simon.  This is also a reasonably good matchup.  Simon is a patient hitter who moves well around the court, but prefers to outlast his opponents than to outhit them, though he’s got some decent pace as well.

Simon looked to be in trouble against Harrison who was outhitting him and waiting for errors, but when Simon won the second set over Harrison, it was Harrison that wilted and was unable to stay focused enough to pull the upset.  Everyone knows that Harrison deals with emotional ups-and-downs, as likely to berate himself for bad shots as he is to be up when he plays well.  It’s been a tricky balancing act as he works to improve his game.  At the end, Simon’s ability to fetch balls combined with Harrison berating himself lead to a 6-1 final set.

Harrison promised he would work harder and get to a point where he could just get through these matches.  In the meanwhile, he still has work to do.